In the medical field, in particular, in intensive-care medicine or in surgery, it is often necessary to operate a plurality of electrical and electronic medical apparatuses together in a spatial area and to arrange them such that they are located close to the patient but do not hinder access to the patient. Normally, this requires a certain mobility of these apparatuses as well as a flexibility of the attachment options at a medical supply unit.
In view of hygienic requirements, it is desirable to keep the lines between the connectors at the medical supply unit and the medical apparatuses as short as possible. Thus, it is desirable that the data connection points and the outlets, namely electrical outlets or gas outlets, be located close to the respective apparatuses to configure the lengths of the lines as short as possible. When the configuration or the positioning of the medical apparatuses is changed, it is therefore favorable to arrange the outlets such that they are spatially advantageously arranged, namely in a short distance to the medical apparatuses.
Due to hygienic reasons, it is also desirable that fasteners, such as screws, not be visible from the outside, as this would affect the ability to clean, and because additional gaps and openings would be created, in which the pathogens may adhere.
For an efficient assembly of the medical supply units, it is desirable to employ modules that are as standardized as possible and that can be mounted in the medical supply unit without any tool. However, the dismantling of the modules must only be enabled by means of tools.
From the prior art, medical supply units such as ceiling mounted supply units comprising one or multiple carriers for outlets are known, which comprise a skeletal structure consisting of profiles whereby data connection points or outlets for medical gases and electrical current are fixed in the skeletal structure by special holding sheets. Then, the base bodies of the outlets are covered by means of cover plates produced for the specific configuration of the outlets. Normally, these plates are fixed at the skeletal structure by means of screws.
However, the configuration and the arrangement of the outlets are typically fixedly set. A subsequent change of the position of outlets or the addition or omission of outlets requires producing a new cover plate. Thus, subsequent modifications involve a significant effort. Also, it is typically not possible to optimally organize the assembly because prefabricated modules typically cannot be inserted into the carrier of the medical supply unit. Rather, the individual parts have to be successively inserted into the carrier, which typically involves elaborate working steps because the assemblies and elements have to be individually screwed into the carrier.